Rishabh Pant might have been ruled out of his wicketkeeping duties on the second day of the ongoing third Test against England at Lord’s but the Indian vice-captain is leaving no stone unturned to be fit for batting despite an injury on his index finger on his left hand.

After being injured while attempting to stop a wide ball from Jasprit Bumrah on the opening day, Pant had to leave the field in pain, leaving Dhruv Jurel to fill in form him. The 27-year-old didn’t take the field on Friday too after which the BCCI confirmed that Jurel will continue.

The Delhi lad finally brought a smile to the faces of the fans gathered at the iconic venue when he walked towards the nets with his bat in hand, pad and gloves on. Pant was accompanied by batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, Indian team’s throwdown specialists and physio Yogesh Pamar.

During his 15 minutes at the nets, Pant was visibly in pain but still faced throwdowns with a clean intent to bat. During his time at the nets, Pant was seen talking to himself and frequently inspected his hand.

On his way to nets, Pant also apologised to fans for not taking photos. He made up with autographs and selfies on his way back.

Jofra Archer makes fairytale return

Meanwhile, Karun Nair and KL Rahul stitched India’s return after Jofra Archer made early inroads and cut short Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stay at the crease during the visitors’ first innings. At the stroke of Tea, India put 44/1 in 14 overs on the board, trailing by 343 runs with Rahul and Nair unbeaten with scores of 13 and 18 respectively.

Returning to the Test playing XI for the first time in four years, Archer had Jaiswal caught by Joe Root at slips. England had made 387 in their first innings, thanks to fifties from Jamie Smith, Brydon Carse and a 37th Test hundred from Root.